Month: July 2020

Flamenco, the plaintive music of Spain, faces the worst crisis since the Civil War. The thundering stomp of the dancers – called zapateando – has been silenced across the nation, another casualty of the pandemic. Although Spain has been open for tourists since June, only a trickle of foreign visitors have arrived during what is normally the busiest season.  Their absence is a death knell for flamenco halls – called tablaos – which depend on holidaymakers who provide 90% of their income. The tablaos, which take their name from the raised wooden floor on which dancers stamp their feet, remain closed. FILE – A street artist wearing a flamenco dress performs in front of the Royal Palace in Madrid, Sept. 8, 2017.Calls for help The owners of flamenco halls across Spain have begged the government for money but are still waiting. “Since March 13, we have not had any income at all and every day it is tougher to pay bills that we have with the tablaos,” Federico Escudero, president of the national association of flamenco halls, told VOA.  “We have received some financial help to pay the rent from local councils in Madrid, Andalusia and there is a possibility of this in Barcelona. But the central government has not given us anything,” he said.  Escudero added: “If they do not support us, the flamenco tablaos will disappear. It seems they have forgotten what flamenco means for Spain. It is not just an art form but part of our national identity.” Even a plea from Rosalía, the singer who has become an international star, appears to have fallen on deaf ears. “The tablaos are sacred places which help flamenco to stay alive. I give all my support to all the artists and support to the people who want flamenco to remain alive,” she said in a post on Facebook. Rosalía, who took flamenco and fused it with reggae, became a huge star who has toured the world. Until the COVID-19 epidemic, the spectacle of flamenco dancing, singing and guitar playing, which developed over centuries and was popularized by the gypsies of the southern region of Andalusia, was staged at more than 100 halls across Spain. FILE – Martin Guerrero, general director of tavern-restaurant and flamenco tablao Casa Patas, climbs a ladder to change a light bulb at Casa Patas, which is closed due to the coronavirus lockdown, in Madrid, Spain, June 2, 2020.Death of an art The first to close was Casa Patas in Madrid, which for over 40 years had hosted star performers including Diego el Cigala, Sara Baras and Tomatito. Martin Guerrero, the owner, said: “We have no international clients and without that and with earnings amounting to between 10 and 20 percent of normal levels, it makes it impossible to open.” He said he had been forced to lay off his 25 workers, some of whom had been employed at the hall for more than two decades. As Spain emerged from one of the strictest lockdowns in Europe last month, there has been a surge in the number of coronavirus cases. The number of outbreaks tripled in the past three weeks as young people partying in discos or drinking in groups were linked to over 200 outbreaks.  More than 2,000 COVID-19 cases were diagnosed on Thursday, as Spain once again struggled to contain the spread of the coronavirus. These figures have done nothing to encourage tourists to return. The halls, which usually pack tables and chairs close together near the artists, will struggle to open under restrictions that demand 1.5 meters between guests. The sector is asking for the extension of furloughs and subsidies. The pandemic has also affected performers. El Yiyo, a flamenco dancer from Barcelona whose real name is Miguel Fernández Ribas, has worked around the world for the past seven years. “I am going to appear in Italy on television this month and it is the first time that I have worked since the coronavirus epidemic started,” he told VOA in an interview. “All the other artists that I know have been affected in the same way. It is desperate. Without the tourists all is lost.” UNESCO declared flamenco a world treasure by adding it to its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010. Since the epidemic, it has been declared an item of national heritage in Spain, which means it is entitled to special government grants. Nevertheless, for Escudero, this is not enough. He said that if the government does not help the tablaos, which employ 90% of the country’s 3,500 professional performers, the entire tradition of flamenco may be in danger. “We have no income,” he said. “If we disappear, part of flamenco will die with us.” FILE – Mariana Collado, dancer at tavern-restaurant and flamenco tablao Casa Patas, performs at Casa Patas, which is closed due to the COVID-19 lockdown in Madrid, Spain, June 2, 2020.Government’s role  “Of course we want to help flamenco,” said a spokeswoman for the Spanish culture ministry, who asked not to be named as per the ministry’s policy.  She said the ministry plans to hold a meeting of leading artists; however, the official said the central government’s ability to help is limited. “Financial aid for the sector is mainly the responsibility of local councils,” she said, adding that many of the tablao employees technically count as tourism sector workers.  The Spanish government is considering extending temporary unemployment assistance for many workers in the tourism industry until later in the year. 
 
…

A visual artist in Nigeria’s conservative northern region is on a mission to challenge some stereotypes about women. These include the notion that certain trades are for men only and that women who venture into them are bound to fail. The 25-year-old artist, Maryam Umar Maigida, told VOA Hausa she also uses her paintings to demand justice for victims of sexual violence. Haruna Shehu reports.
Videographer: Auwal Salihu
 
…

Amber Heard alleged in a British court on Wednesday that her ex-husband Johnny Depp threw “30 or so bottles” at her as if they were “grenades or bombs” while they were in Australia in March 2015 and that he accidentally severed part of his finger during the assault.Taking to the witness box for a third day at the High Court in London during Depp’s libel case against a British tabloid, the actress refuted his allegation that it was she who lost her temper and that she had injured him.Heard has described her stay in Australia with Depp as akin to a “three-day hostage situation,” during which Depp was “completely out of his mind and out of control.” She has said that she feared for her life while at the rented property on Australia’s Gold Coast.The incident is central to The Sun’s labeling of Depp in an April 2018 article as a “wife beater.” The Sun’s defense relies on 14 allegations made by Heard of violence by Depp between 2013 and 2016, in settings including the rented house in Australia, his private island in the Bahamas, and a private jet.He denies the charges and claims Heard was the aggressor during their relationship. He was present once again to hear Heard’s testimony. Depp, 57, is suing The Sun’s publisher, News Group Newspapers, and its executive editor, Dan Wootton, over the article.Depp’s lawyer, Eleanor Laws, said Heard had worked herself “into a rage” during her stay in Australia, where Depp was filming the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie.Heard, 34, said she got “angry at times but not into a rage that would cause me to throw anything at him.”She did concede that she did break one bottle in their second evening together in Australia as they argued about the scale of his drinking.”I regret I did that,” said Heard, who also claimed that Depp would often credit her for saving him by trying to get him clean and sober.After she smashed the bottle, Heard alleges that Depp, fueled by drink and drugs, started throwing bottles, full enough that they broke a window behind her.”He threw all the bottles that were in reach, all except for one which was a celebratory magnum-sized bottle of wine,” she said.Heard also denied severing the tip of Depp’s finger during the bottle-throwing frenzy and that she put out a cigarette on his cheek during the incident. She said it was something that Depp used to do to himself.”Johnny did it right in front of me, he often did things like that,” she said.In the first nine days of testimony at the High Court, judge Andrew Nicol heard from Depp and from several current or former employees who backed his version of events. In his testimony, Depp said he was the one being abused by Heard and that she had a history of being violent against him.In written testimony released to the court, Heard said that at various times during their relationship she endured “punching, slapping, kicking, head-butting and choking.” She said some incidents were “so severe” she was “afraid he was going to kill me, either intentionally or just by losing control and going too far.” She said he blamed his actions on “a self-created third party” that he referred to as “the monster.”Depp and Heard met on the set of the comedy “The Rum Diary,” released in 2011. They married in Los Angeles in February 2015. Heard filed for divorce the following year, and it was finalized in 2017.Heard’s testimony is expected to last for four days, through Thursday. 
…